Japanese Encephalitis - Review of Recommendations

We have completed a review of our japanese encephalitis vaccine recommendations for all countries.

Utilising WHO data, incidence of japanese encephalitis from 2013 - 2017 was calculated for each country. Whether a national immunisation programme was in place for japanese encephaltis was also considered for individual countries.

There are currently 22 countries where japanese encepahlitis human cases are reported. Taking into consideration both incidence and presence of national immunisation schedule, the risk of travellers acquiring disease is considered to be small for all affected countries. As such, we have 'downgraded' our vaccine recommendation from 'sometimes advised' to 'selectively advised - only for travellers at highest risk'.

In affected countries, practitioners should consider vaccinating:

• Those likely to be frequently exposed to mosquito bites in rural infected areas (e.g. backpackers, agricultural workers, volunteers).
• Long stays (e.g. more than one month) in infected areas.
• Repeated visits to risk areas (e.g. flood plains, rice paddies, marshlands).
• Short stays during epidemics/outbreaks.
• Migrants going to live in an endemic area.

Where information on geographical and seasonal risk is known, this is included on individual country pages.

Where no cases of disease are reported and where there is no national immunisation programme in place for japanese encephalitis, the vaccine recommendation has been removed. This affects:

• Pakistan
• Russia
• Singapore.

For further information on japanese encephalitis